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Thursday, Jun. 1 10:00pm ET
Storm blown away in Seattle debut | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SEATTLE (AP) -- The Houston Comets are still the team to beat in the Western Conference. Just one night after looking vulnerable against the expansion Portland Fire, the Comets looked more like the three-defending WNBA champions, routing another expansion team, the Seattle Storm 77-47 on Thursday night. "I see Seattle as being unfortunate because we played poor last night in Portland," Comets coach Van Chancellor said. "It's not good to get Houston after a tough game so I feel for Lin Dunn's team." Houston stars Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson combined to scored 52 points. Swoopes led Houston with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. Thompson added 19 points and nine rebounds. "When Sheryl and Cynthia are on their game we're a tough team to beat," Thompson said. Cooper had 13 points. "We were able to get out and play the style of basketball we're used to," Cooper said. "We jumped out aggressively and pushed the ball up the court." The Comets led the Storm 22-7 with 10:32 left in the first half. Thompson scored nine points, including two 3-pointers during the run. "They got us down early and it affected our inexperience," Dunn said. "I think another thing that was really frustrating for us was we couldn't hit our shots." The Storm shot 34 percent (10-of-29) from the field and made just 10 baskets in the first half. "The last couple of games we struggled defensively, but we got started early tonight and did a good job," Cooper said. "We got started early defending the way we defended the last three years." The Comets forced the Storm into 17 turnovers. Thompson and Swoopes scored 13 points each in the first half to help the Comets build a 40-23 lead. Houston, playing its third game in four nights, stretched the lead to 24 during a 6-0 run to start the second half. Chancellor was able to rest Cooper, Swoopes and Thompson most of the second half. Quacy Barnes led Seattle with 16 points. "Quacy Barnes is our warrior. I think she arrived as a legitimate post player in this league," Dunn said. While Barnes was banging in the post, the Storm's starting backcourt of Edna Campbell and Sonja Henning combined to score 13 points. "We got to get more points from our perimeter," Dunn said. "We got to get Edna Campbell putting the ball in the hole and Sonja Henning finishing her shots on her penetration." Henning, the Comets' starting point guard last season, was 1-of-5 from the field, while Campbell was 5-for-17. Kamila Vodichkova, who scored 20 in a loss to Sacramento on Wednesday night, was ineffective for Seattle. The 6-foot-4 Vodichkova scored just seven points while playing 25 minutes. Houston outrebounded Seattle 32-23, which lost its first-ever home game before 10,840 fans. | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Orlando 82 Charlotte 79
Houston 77
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